hunter s. thompson's 1958 cover letter for a newspaper job - boing boing
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Hunter S. Thompson's1958 cover letter for anewspaper jobBy David Pescovitz at 10:56 am Tuesday,Oct 5
In October 1958, a pre-fame Hunter S.Thompson applied for a job at the
Vancouver Sun. The Ottawa Citizen recently
published the quintessentially-Hunter cover
letter, which also appeared in The Proud
Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern
Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and
Loathing Letters, Vol. 1). Here it is:
Vancouver Sun
TO JACK SCOTT,
VANCOUVER SUN
October 1, 1958 57 Perry
Street New York City
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EDITORS
Mark Frauenfelder
Cory Doctorow
Sir,
I got a hell of a kick reading
the piece Time magazine
did this week on The Sun.
In addition to wishing you
the best of luck, I'd also like
to offer my services.
Since I haven't seen a copy
of the "new" Sun yet, I'll
have to make this a
tentative offer. I stepped
into a dung-hole the last
time I took a job with a
paper I didn't knowanything about (see
enclosed clippings) and I'm
not quite ready to go
charging up another blind
alley.
By the time you get this
letter, I'll have gotten hold
of some of the recent issues
of The Sun. Unless it lookstotally worthless, I'll let my
offer stand. And don't think
that my arrogance is
unintentional: it's just that
I'd rather offend you now
than after I started working
for you.
I didn't make myself clear
to the last man I worked for
until after I took the job. It
was as if the Marquis de
Sade had suddenly found
himself working for Billy
Graham. The man despised
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David Pescovitz
Xeni Jardin
Editors
Rob Beschizza
Managing Editor
Maggie
Koerth-Baker
Science Editor
Jason Weisberger
Publisher-at-Large
Ken Snider
Sysadmin
Dean Putney
Developer
Antinous
Lead Moderator
Avram & Felton
Moderators
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Video Editor
Terry Thurlow
Finance
Ed SzylkoInsurance
me, of course, and I had
nothing but contempt for
him and everything he
stood for. If you asked him,
he'd tell you that I'm "not
very likable, (that I) hate
people, (that I) just want to
be left alone, and (that I)
feel too superior to mingle
with the average person."
(That's a direct quote from
a memo he sent to the
publisher.)
Nothing beats having good
references.
Of course if you asked some
of the other people I've
worked for, you'd get a
different set of answers.
If you're interested enough
to answer this letter, I'll be
glad to furnish you with a
list of references --
including the lad I work fornow.
The enclosed clippings
should give you a rough
idea of who I am. It's a year
old, however, and I've
changed a bit since it was
written. I've taken some
writing courses from
Columbia in my spare time,
learned a hell of a lot about
the newspaper business,
and developed a healthy
contempt for journalism as
a profession.
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"How can you be serious?" Not by wearingthis T-shirt! The classic Mark PawsonT-shirt, updated for 2012.
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As far as I'm concerned, it's
a damned shame that a
field as potentially dynamic
and vital as journalism
should be overrun with
dullards, bums, and hacks,
hag-ridden with myopia,
apathy, and complacence,
and generally stuck in a bog
of stagnant mediocrity. If
this is what you're trying to
get The Sun away from,
then I think I'd like to work
for you.
Most of my experience has
been in sports writing, but I
can write everything from
warmongering propaganda
to learned book reviews.
I can work 25 hours a day if
necessary, live on any
reasonable salary, and don't
give a black damn for job
security, office politics, oradverse public relations.
I would rather be on the
dole than work for a paper I
was ashamed of.
It's a long way from here to
British Columbia, but I
think I'd enjoy the trip.
If you think you can use
me, drop me a line.
If not, good luck anyway.
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NEXT POST!
Sincerely, Hunter S.
Thompson
The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate
Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear
and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) (Amazon,
thanks Gil Kaufman!)
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documentary
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book and gallery exhibit
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words
Hunter S Thompson tribute beers
with Steadman labels
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comments
and 278 others liked this.
Here's another fun Hunter S
Thompson letter:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2....
chris
Working link:
http://www.lettersofnote.com
/2...
Anonymous
Worki
ng
link:
http:/
/www.
lettersofnote
.com/
2...
Holy fucking crap... get
Kimmo
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a load of this comment.
Anony
mous
said...
Blah,blah,
fuckin
g blah.
Hunte
r
knew
his
work
deserved
better
treatm
ent
and
gave
this
inflate
dbitch
a
literar
y
flailin
g for
giving
him
anyless.
That
said,
stop
suckin
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g this
man's
cock.
Thom
pson
isdead
and
gone,
and I
doubt
he
would
care
about
this
letter'
s
recept
ion
much
more
than
he did
the
ammu
nition
that
he
braine
d
himsel
f with.
He
wasn't
a
legend
ary
writer
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; he
simply
used
abrasi
ve
polishwhere
most
weak-
minde
d
hacks
nostal
gically
glosse
d
over.
He
had a
way
with
words
few do
or
ever
will,
but a
literar
y giant
does
not
that
make.
Sadly,
his
body
of
work
will be
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legend
ary -
not
becau
se of
itssignifi
cant
qualit
y and
insigh
t - but
becau
se
cocks
ucking
,
hipste
r-
cred-s
eeking
meatb
ag
swine
will
contin
ue to
add
his
name
to
their
"My
Favori
te
Autho
rs"
colum
ns on
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Faceb
ook
and
the
like
whilethey
read
little
to
none
of his
work.
This is
basica
lly
rubbi
ng his
ashes
on
your
face
and
procla
iming,
"I AM
GONZ
O
TOO!"
No
you
fuckin
g are
not.
You
are
swine.
You
are
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pigs-i
n-
waitin
g that
want
topostur
e
thems
elves
as
somet
hing
you
collect
ively
canno
t
grasp.
It isn't
an
Acapu
lco
shirt
you
can
put
on, it
isn't
your
shiny
"Bid
Red
Shark
"
autom
obile,
it isn't
the
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rum
in
your
glass
nor
thecigare
ttes in
your
pipe
stem,
and if
you
think
you
have
it, you
shoul
d blow
your
brains
out
too. It
died
with
Hunte
r
becau
se he
knew
pigs
and
all
mann
er of
terribl
e
beasts
would
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try to
align
thems
elves
with
something
they
feared
becau
se
they
lacked
the
power
to
compr
ehend
, the
"true
grit."
In all
manif
estatio
ns of
the
phras
e, he
was
essent
ially
telling
all of
you
(not
just
this
lazy
bitch)
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soulle
ss
fad-se
ekers
out
therenot
willin
g to
comm
it to
anythi
ng to
go
fuck
yourse
lves
(much
better
than I
or
anyon
e else
can).
Put on
anoth
er
mask
and
decora
te
your
swine
shell
with
insecu
rities,
if only
to
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cover
your
piggy
featur
es
fromdiscer
ning
eyes.
Make
no
mista
ke,
THE
WOR
LD
SEES
YOU
FOR
WHA
T YOU
ARE
AND
WE
WILL
KILL
YOU
FOR
IT.
Nothi
ng is
so bad
as
huma
ns
lackin
g
identit
y and
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even
more
the
origin
ality
tomake
their
own.
Thievi
ng,
lying
swine.
Fuck
you
all.
7 July
2010
08:18
Not sure I entirely
agree, but that's one
impressive rant.
That is a great
rant.
And it would beeven greater to
fisk it with
super-polite
remonstrations.
Teller
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That is such a
rip off of HST's
style. Oh, the
irony!
robuluz
Yeah, it's
pretty
fractal : )
Kimm
To me it
reads like
someone
chanellin
g HST
through
theSpider
Jerusale
m filter.
MrFox
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OttAwa not OttOwa
anniearonburg
Thank you!
- An Ottawaian
IRC
Did he get the job?
Patrick Dodds
He did not.
I really recommend hiscollected letters to anyone
who digs his work (I'm about
half way through the second
volume now). You can see the
evolution of a lot of his
philosophy (though a solid
groundwork was laid very
early), and it's cool to see him
struggle with his style.
The letters are much milder in
tone, in general, than the
fiction/nonfiction he
published.
querent
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Publis
hing
for
Dum
mies"
(orwhate
ver it's
called)
The difference is that
HST was a real genius
and one of a kind
creative writer with
balls of steel. Cory is a
pop-sci "author" hack.
There simply is no
comparison. It's like
comparing Jean-Paul
Sartre and Clive
Cussler. Or something.
Yikes. I agree
that HST was
one of a kind,
and he's my
favoriteamerican writer.
But I have dug
all of Cory's
books I've read.
Just saying.
querent
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You can see the
evolution of a lot of his
philosophy (though a
solid groundwork was
laid very early), and
it's cool to see him
struggle with his style.
The letters are much
milder in tone, in
general, than the
fiction/nonfiction hepublished.
Interestingly, he
breaks a rule Cory lays
out explicitly in
"Science Fiction
Publishing for
Dummies" (or
whatever it's called)
I think writing is about
setting rules and
breaking rules, where
and when you are
good enough. A high
stakes test. No mercy.
What a match for
Thompson'spersonality! Life is a
moving target.
My respect for
Thompson grows. He
had the "right kind of
agnot
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eyes."
The letter seems
Hunter-esque. He
juggles any reasons
someone might care
about the truth against
smoke, mirrors and
bullshit, using imagery
that illuminates the
human gut. If you
don't like him, good,
you are out of his hair.
I don't know that my
respect overcomes mycontempt though.
Another of his
characteristics,
cruelty, had limits, I
admit, after which he
would stand up
against cruelty. But I
am unsure he ever
succeeded in resolving
that issue.
His method of suicide
was cruel to his loved
ones. I know he had
little tolerance for the
euphemisms of
civilization because
something within had
less tolerance for his
own frailty. ergo,
drugs, maybe. You can
hear it laced in the
genius of his words.
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But he just couldn't
seem to effect a buffer
between that those
close to him. Guess
that is why he was
him.
Christ, what an asshole.
ethancoop
I disagree - I think the fact
that he skirts so close to being
an asshole and doesn't hit it is
what makes this letter so
classy. He even explains in the
letter why he's doing it - that
he didn't do it last time and he
got burned.
The whole point of him
playing up his assholery is to
demonstrate to his employer
that what he cares about is
writing good words about
good things for good people(taking care to define "good"),
and pretty much nothing else.
If they didn't like the letter,
they wouldn't be the kind of
person he'd want to work for.
Fang Xianfu
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having left.
I would have hired him on the merits
of that letter alone.
Anonymous
Flying Spaghetti Monster, what an
awesome guy.
EarthtoGeoff
If you think you can
use me, drop me a
line.
If not, good luckanyway.
That right there is how every
jobseeker's cover letter should close.
This might be the most sensible thing
Thompson's written that I've ever
read. "Here's who I am, here's what
you can expect, here's what I expect,
if it sounds mutually beneficial let'sdo it, if not let's not waste each
other's time."
Not knowing anything else about the
man, if I liked his samples, I'd hire
Donald Petersen
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him. Of course, knowing Thompson
in retrospect, I might come to regret
that. But I'd probably sell a pile of
newspapers in the interim, before the
liability costs mounted too high.
And another:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2...
Anonymous
The letter Thompson wrote in
application for the Governorship of
American Samoa is a timeless classic.
"The Proud Highway" is my favorite
Thompson book, because you get a
glimpse of who Thompson was, and
what he was about, before he wrote
his own legend.
Guesstimate Jones
Very upfront letter. He laid out
everything except Hey, let's meet for
a drink.
Teller
Good stuff, there. I remember
reading that letter in The Proud
Snakefarmer
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there's a country to your north.
*sigh*
yanks ...
All hail HST... what a champion.
Did he ever have anything to do with
Kurt Vonnegut? I imagine those two
could have produced some extremely
entertaining conversations...
Kimmo
Editors these days (if they ever read
it at all) would likely throw it straight
in the trash after seeing the words "...
like to offer my services".
minamisan
"overrun with dullards, bums, and
hacks, hag-ridden with myopia,
apathy, and complacence, and
generally stuck in a bog of stagnant
mediocrity"....sounds like the Albany
Times Union
Anonymous
re: Anon referring to the ...(that I)...
Anonymous
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That's Thompson "editing" his
former boss's memo, not someone
editing Thompson.
Please spell Ottawa as if you know
there's a country to your north.
yes, many very famous and
important folks came from Canada:
Shana Twain, William Shatner, Peter
Jennings. How can anyone not know
that?
Anonymous
Please spell Ottawa as if you know
there's a country to your north.
Well, we know the country to our
'north' is Russia. But practicallyspeaking, Ottawa is the second
largest city in the 51st state (51-54th,
not really sure which) and as such we
should still spell it correctly....
Anonymous
Awesome post. I swear, I could readeverything I could get my hands on
about this man. Just so you know
there is a very cool site featuring
Hunter S Thompson T-shirts that I
think is awesome too. These are the
CuriousInkling
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most amazing art t-shirts tributing
Hunter S Thompson I've ever seen.
Really beautiful stuff!
Hey, I'd hire him. Love him/hate
him. he had the the talent to get
people right riled up, his best gift.
Not many people are willing,or able.
to get in the face of the powers that
be,let 'er rip,then laugh his ass, then
do it again.Wherever he may be, may
he find his Bliss.
Anonymous
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